Reel-holder.



C. V. BATES.

REEL HoLER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24,1915. K ENEWED AUG. 3l. |916.

v 1,220,169'. Patented'Mar.27,1917.

CLIFFORD V. BATES', OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

REELfHoLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 27, 1917.

Application led March 24, 1915, Serial No. 16,560. Renewed August 31, 1916. Serial No. 117,958.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CLIFFORD V. BATES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reel-Holders, of which the following is a specification. v

My invention relates to certain improvements in reel holders that may be used for various purposes and herein shown in the form of an eyeglass chain reel.

The principal object of the invention is to construct a device of the character described with positive means for locking and releasing the reel. A further object, of the invention is to construct such a device which will be operable in any position. Further points of novelty reside in specific details of construction shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional view on the line 1 1 of Fig. 2. e

Fig. 2 is a` section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. y 1 v Fig. 3 is a section on the .line 3 3l of Fi 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a modiedform Y of construction.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the guide block. Y

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the shaft.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, my improved structure comprises a casing consisting of a rear section 8 that is provided with a clasp or pin 9. A peripheralflange 10 is formed near the outer edge of said section and the front section 11 of the casing snugly ts around the flange 10. An opening 12 is formed centrally of the rear section 8 and preferably of angular form to receive the end of a correspondingly shaped shaft, to be hereinafter more fully described. Surrounding the opening 12 is a plate 13 having a series of ingers 14 formed integral therewith and projecting at substantially right angles to the plane of the rear section 8. The plate 13 is soldered Y or otherwise secured to the rear section.

The reel comprises two circumferential flanges 15 and an intermediate section 16 thereby forming a channel. The channel is internally supported by a web 17 which is disposed substantially midway between the flanges. The reel may be formed in any suitable manner and its details of construction are ofminor importancei A hub 18 is formed upon the web 17 of the reel. The reel is mounted upon a shaft 19 the rear end 20 of which is reduced and suitably foi-medito iit the opening 12, whereby rotation of the shaft relative to the rear vsection 8 is prevented.

.i Within the reel and lying between the web 17 and the rear section 8 is a coiled spring 21, one end of which is secured to one of the fingers 14'and the outer endsecured to the reel near its periphery, as by striking a tongue 22 out of the web 17 and bending the end of the spring about said tongue. A' chain 23, or other iieXible member, is wound about the reel with one end thereof secured to thereel in any suitable manner and a slot opening 24 is formed in the outer section 11 of the casing through which the chain passes. Uponthe outer end of the chain is'any suitable formi of hook 25.

Mounted upon the web 17, and upon the opposite side thereof'from the spring 2l, is a guide block designated as a whole by the numeral 26. lThe'gui'de'bloclr is provided with a central shaft opening 27 and upon opposite sidesof said opening two recesses are formed as follows.:

' rlhe recess 28 is formedv longitudinally of the guide block by cutting partially through the block from one side but leaving an in-k clined surface 29 formednear the opposite side of the block from which the cut is started. The angular surface 29 is downwardly inclined toward the center opening 27. A similarly shaped recess 30 is formed in the guide block 26 on the opposite side of the opening 27 from the recess 28 but the recess 30 is cut in from the opposite side of the block so that the inclined surface 31 is in an inverted position relative to the inclined surface 29. The construction of this block will be better understood by referring to Fig. 2 wherein it is shown in section. The outerV end of the shaft 19 is provided with a head 32 having oppositely disposed longitudinal grooves'33 and 34 formed therein.

Within the recesses 28 'and 30 are the balls 35 and 36 respectively. l

The operation of the structure as thus described, is as follows:

The function of the spring is to rotate the reel so that normally the chain 23 will be wound about the reel and the hook 25 will be adjacent the casing. When it is desired to pull the 'chain out of the casing, and against the action of the spring, by pulling upon the hook or that part of the chain which protrudes beyond the casing, the reel is rotated and carries the block 2G with it since the block is secured to the web 17.

When the chain is pulled from without the casing the block 26 moves contra-clockwise and the balls 35 and 36, as shown in Fig. 1,

will be carried around the shaft 19. When the proper length of chain has been pulled from the casing the operator permits the reel to rotate in a clockwise direction, under the action of the spring 21, until one of the balls 35 or 36 drops into one of the grooves 33 or 34, whereupon a ball is wedged between the shaft 19 and the guide block 26, as shown in Fig. 1, and the reel is thus held .in a stationary position.

The modication shown in Fig. 4 illustrates a structure intended primarily for an eye-glass chain reel and since such a structure is always secured in a vertical position there is no necessity for more than a single groove 83 in the shaft 32. It is essential, however, that such a structure be capable of operating in substantially any position and to this end I have devised the preferred form of structure herein illustrated. Y

It is obvious that the modified form of structure shown in Fig. 4, if placed in a horizontal position would be inoperable for vthe reason that the balls 35 or 36 would not drop into the groove 33. Consequently I have formed the block 26 with inclined surfaces 29 and 30 upon which the balls are adapted to roll whereby they will gravitate toward the shaft 33 irrespective of whether -the structure is in a vertical or horizontal position.

It is also obvious that the block 26 need Vnot be of the specific forms herein shown, it

being only essential that it be so formed that it will confine the -ball and thus cause it to travel in a delinedpath and therefore without limiting` myself to specific details of construction, .as herein shown.

I cla-im:

A reel holder comprising a casing, a shaft secured to said casing and provided with a groove having curved side walls of unequal length at one end thereof to receive a check member, ya guide block carried by said reel and through which said shaft extends, said guide block being provided with a slot having substantially parallel side walls disposed at approximately a right angle to the longitudinal axis of said shaft throughout their length, a check member movable within said slot, a spring normally tending to rotate -the reel in'one direction and a lieXible member upon said reel adapted to rotate said reel yin the other direction.

CLIFFORD V. BATES. Witnesses:

SADni M. RYAN, JAMES R. OrrrELD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing' the Commissioner Vof Patents, Washington, D. G. 

